Bolt Review

If only my dog had super powers...

I knew I was in for a "great" experience when, upon examining the back of the Bolt box, I saw a picture of the character Penny enthusiastically riding her red scooter next to a small disclaimer that read "scooter not in game." Awesome. That's never a good start.

If you haven't been keeping up to date on your computer-animated flicks, Bolt is the newest film from Walt Disney Pictures that follows the diminutive dog Bolt who stars in a hit TV series where his character has incredible super powers. Unfortunately, this leads the canine star to believe that he does in fact possess said powers and hijinks ensue when he attempts to make it back to his owner Penny after a mishap sends him across the country and away from the TV studio.

In keeping with the Licensed Game Tradition, any big movie must go hand-in-hand with a multiplatform videogame release and Bolt is certainly no exception. Developed by Avalanche Software, Bolt is actually not the worst licensed game I've played but that's not exactly a glowing compliment. While there are some good ideas and noble attempts, the game falls short of properly entertaining the player.

ZOMG!

One of the smartest design decisions made by Avalanche was capitalizing on the movie's "canon" in order to create a unique game world. Instead of having the game follow the plotline of its silver screen counterpart, the Bolt videogame takes place entirely in the universe of the aforementioned TV series. That way, the game can do its own thing but still inhabit the Bolt world.

Bolt is made up of two different game types: the main story and the shooter mini-game (which I'll touch on shortly). In the story mode, you'll control either Penny, who follows platforming and stealth conventions, or Bolt, who carries out the majority of the game's combat. Neither of the characters are fun by any stretch of the imagination, but playing as Bolt is a flat out chore. Mild third-person platforming is overwhelmed by annoying, repetitive combat that I just can't see the fun in.

Bolt has a variety of super powers at his disposal like a Sonic Bark and Laser Vision, but because these powers eat away at his energy gauge, you'll also need to rely on normal attacks. These attacks are where the game gets extremely tedious, because you're basically just mashing away at a few buttons while Bolt bounces off enemies like a slingshot. The real problem comes from just how many of Calico's minions (Calico being the main antagonist) you have to face in a single confrontation and the ridiculous amount of damage they can take. By the end of the game I was so incredibly sick of combat that I lamented every moment I had to play as Super Dog.

Playing as Penny is only marginally better. Her sections of the game focus on platforming and using stealth to get around enemies, which I consider to be a decided improvement over the ridiculous combat system. Penny's platforming abilities hinge on the usage of her Wheelbar, which is a small device that she carries with her throughout the game. The Wheelbar is an extendable pole with a wheel on each end, which Penny can attach to ledges and shoulder-wide enclosures and traverse them quickly and quietly. The Wheelbar is easily the best element of the game as a whole, but unfortunately you can't get especially creative with its usage. There are very specific and linear areas you can use it on and those areas are always terribly obvious thanks to Penny's Enhanced Vision, which you can activate with a press of a button. This paints the traversable paths bright yellow and eliminates the need for any exploration or a sense of freedom. Lame.

Ghost ride da Wheelbar.

Using stealth would have been a nice addition to the package, but it is -- surprisingly -- entirely useless. In theory, Penny can creep up behind Calico's soldiers and execute a Sneak Attack which immediately disables them. Yet there's absolutely no point in putting this to practice because it's easier and faster just to "get caught" and let them come to you. When they attempt to grab Penny, a very easy Quick Time Event comes up and one button press disables the soldier. If I can always win these quick mini-battles, what's the point in wasting time sneaking around an entire level? Avalanche essentially broke its own stealth mechanic by giving you a sure-fire way to take out enemies without taking the time to be sneaky.

The only relief from playing as these two characters is a mini-game inspired by modern dual-thumbstick shooters. These mini-games pop up anytime Penny hacks into a computer mainframe. You essentially guide a small probe around computer-themed levels and blast away at Counter Intrusion Programs that try to shoot you down or ram into you. The tragedy is that this mini-game controls so poorly it just isn't fun, and the only difference between each hacking instance is how the levels are laid out. There's just not enough depth in the gameplay to keep things interesting.

The Verdict

A few good ideas went into Bolt but the execution is all wrong. Playing as Bolt is both annoying and repetitious and Penny's stealth sections are pointless because of her ability to take down enemies with a single QTE. While Bolt isn't nearly the worst licensed game I've seen, there's really no reason to pick up a copy. And besides: scooter not in game.